That’s what Powell gave the markets yesterday, to help the medicine of higher dot plots go down. It was full on Goldilocks yesterday—higher growth projections, rate cuts still in the works this year, and slowing the pace of balance sheet run-off, per Bloomberg. He got investors able to focus on where rate cuts end, versus when they start this year, creating a Goldilocks set-up. But Vanguard is saying It Ain’t So, betting that the Fed does NOT cut this year. So, that sugar would certainly wear off if that were to occur. People aren’t that patient. Per the FT.
The DOJ is coming after AAPL in federal court for antitrust violations, they say, with the co accused of blocking competitors from accessing h/w and s/w features of iPhones. This isn’t the FTC but the DOJ.
Korean Air passed on Boeing to order 33 jets for $14bn from Airbus. Japan also said it will purchase 11 Airbus planes, with some Boeings, making Airbus the courted new player for single-aisle planes.
That’s when a partial gov shutdown would happen if Congress doesn’t pass the $1.2 trn deal to keep US gov agencies open. Get it done, folks.
Paramount has reportedly received an $11B offer from Apollo for company’s studio, per msn.
The EZ’s flash manufacturing PMI unexpectedly dropped to 45.7 in Mar, driven by weaker-than-forecasted data in Germany and France. The services gauge rose, landing the composite measure at 49.9 in Mar, up from 49.2 in Feb.
We’ve been long Japan. Just added to Japan. Equities popped on the back of US Fed day market reaction. Nikkei +>2%, Topix +>1.6%. Their manufacturing sentiment as at a 3-mo high, and their flash PMI (versus that of the EZ) was better because of narrower declines in output and new orders.
For you gold bugs out there, good job. Gold >$2,200 for the 1st time post the Fed meeting. Macquarie notes that it’s in a short-term overshoot scenario which could move it to $2,300 on a technical basis. ETFs could raise holdings when rates decline, per UBS.
Yesterday the co priced its IPO at $34, translating into a $6.5bn valuation. You can check out CEO Huffman pumping it on CNBC this morning.
OK, Mehrotra, don’t get too giddy here. Yes, Micron’s AI-focused memory chips have sold out most production allocation through 2025. Yes, your stock rallied on the news. We’ve seen this movie so many times. Be measured… BBG has the story.
Five Below is realizing that self-checkout means self-dealing. Tons of shrinkage at the co is happening while non-customers are stealing too.
TGT is doubling bonuses for salaried employees after a good year of profits, per BBG.
